Play extension system and program for the same

• US 6,949,002 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2001
• Issued: 09/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Corporation
• Inventors: Yamaguchi, Takashi, Saeki, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrison, Jessica
• Assistant Examiner(s): RADA, ALEX P
• Application Number:
  US09/989,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20020187725A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,407 Days
• Field of Search: 446454-456, 446/463, 446/439, 463 39- 40, 463 62- 63, 340/825.2, 340/825.68, 340/825.69, 340/825.72, 340/5.8, 345/156
• US Class Current: 446/454
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/406 Transmission via wireless network, e.g. pager or GSM
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/407 Data transfer via internet
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5546 using player registration data, e.g. identification, account, preferences, game history
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/558 by assessing the players' skills or ranking
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/64 for computing dynamical parameters of game objects, e.g. motion determination or computation of frictional forces for a virtual car
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 Driving on land or water; Flying
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/36 Steering-mechanisms for toy vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/395 steered by program
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 30/04 using wireless transmission

Abstract

The present invention provides a play extension system enhancing a fun of a toy system by use of network. The play extension system is used by combination with the toy system in which a user can change the setting of parameters affecting motion control of a driving machine, for extending a playing method with the toy system. In the system, the setting information corresponding to the setting state of the parameters is received from a predetermined user terminal through a network, and estimation on the obtained setting information is created by referring to a database which stores the setting information and the information for estimating the setting state correspondingly. The created estimation is transmitted to a predetermined destination through the network.

Claims

1. A play extension system to be used by combination with a toy system in which a user can change setting of parameters affecting motion control of a driving machine, the system comprising:

a server and a user terminal which are accessible via a network;

the user terminal comprising;

a setting input device for accepting setting information corresponding to a setting state of the parameters, the setting information being input by a user,

the server comprising;

an information obtaining device for receiving setting information received by the setting input device from the user terminal through the network;

an estimation creating device for creating estimation information, the estimation information containing the setting information obtained by the information obtaining device, referring to a database in which the setting information and information for estimating the setting state are stored correspondingly with each other; and

an estimation transmission device for transmitting the created estimation to a predetermined destination through the network;

said estimating information comprising one or more of characteristics of the setting state specified in the setting information and clues for improving the setting state;

said estimating information being stored in the database; and

said estimation transmission device transmitting to the user terminal, through the network, information for displaying said estimation information.

2. The play extension system according to claim 1, wherein

the toy system presents the information for specifying the user'"'"'s setting state of the parameters to the user, and the information obtaining device obtains the information presented to the user by the toy system, from the user terminal, as the setting information.

3. The play extension system according to claim 1, wherein

the toy system comprises a driving machine and a transmission unit for a user'"'"'s remote-controlling of the driving machine, and the settable parameters are to affect a correspondence between an input operation of the transmission unit and a control amount of the driving machine based on a control signal transmitted from the transmission unit to the driving machine.

4. A computer readable recording medium recording program for constructing a play extension system comprising user terminals and one or a plurality of servers of a Web site, which system is used by combination with a toy system in which a user can change setting of parameters affecting motion control of a driving machine, wherein

the program for the play extension system is designed to work the server as:

an information obtaining device for receiving setting information corresponding to a setting state of the parameters from each of the user terminals through a network, the setting information being input by the user to the user terminal;

an estimation creating device for creating estimation information, said estimation information containing the setting information obtained by the information obtaining device, referring to a database in which the setting information and information for estimating the setting state are stored correspondingly with each other;

an estimation transmission device for transmitting the created estimation to a predetermined destination through the network;

said estimation information comprising one or more of characteristics of the setting state specified in the setting information and clues for improving the setting state to the user;

said estimation information being stored in the database; and

the estimation transmission device transmitting to the user terminal, through the network, information for displaying the estimation information.